StJ undergrad wins the Duke’s gold

Adapted from a St. Jerome’s University news release

Natalie Dewan pushed beyond her comfort level and achieved more than she ever thought possible as she worked toward a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s award, founded by Prince Philip, is given to young people aged 14 to 25 and recognizes personal achievements in the categories of physical fitness, community service, skill development, and adventurous journey. There are three levels of achievement: bronze, silver, and gold.

In May, Dewan, an arts student at St. Jerome’s University, joined 100 young Canadians at a ceremony where she was presented with the Gold Award by the Governor General, the University of Waterloo’s former president, David Johnston (left).

Dewan said the “adventurous journey” activity for the gold level distinction, a dog-sledding trip through Algonquin Park, was difficult because of the physical aspects of the trek, but also extremely exhilarating and rewarding.

“The dog-sledding trip was an amazing experience,” she said. “I’m not a natural camper and the physical tasks of driving the sled, setting up camp and preparing meals, helped me achieve more than I thought I was capable of — it was great to know that I could do all that on my own.”

Dewan has pursued the award since her high school days, when she achieved the bronze and silver levels through activities like Irish dancing, soccer, and an overseas trip to Scotland to help in a school and a school library. Dewan also credits the leadership skills and community experience she gained through these activities in helping shape her as a person and changing her perspective on life.

For example, while volunteering at Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit organization committed to fair trade, Dewan said, “I gained a better understanding of what it means to work in community with others. … I learned about fair trade and helping low-income countries find opportunities to sell their products at fair prices, while working together with people to better support handicraft and agricultural organizations. It was a very rewarding experience and one I’m not sure I would have had outside the Duke of Edinburgh program.”

Civic holiday Monday brings Ramadan

Monday, August 1, is the Civic Holiday. University offices and most services will be closed, including retail services stores, athletics and recreation facilities (PAC and CIF), and most food services outlets. What will be open:

August 1 is not only a day off for most of Canada: this year it marks the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. One food service area affected by Ramadan “is the traditional-style residence where students are on a meal plan,” writes Rex Coffin, food services assistant director. (Devout Muslims are required to fast from sunrise to sunset, which means a breakfast in the predawn hours.)

“We have polled our summer students in V1 to gauge how many would be interested in extra service, and learned that only a few would need to make some accommodation for Ramadan," Coffin says. "As numbers did not necessarily warrant extending our hours of service, we have instead made arrangements for those students who are interested to pre-order from a customized breakfast menu ahead of time which can then be picked up the evening before, allowing them to eat on their preferred schedule.”

With the university generally quiet and students writing exams, no special activities are listed on the Muslim Student Association web site. However, Syed Muhammad Ali, MSA vice-president, noted two community events “that Muslim students on campus will definitely be interested in.”

Iftars (break of fast) will take place daily at sunset through August at Waterloo Masjid, 213 Erb Street West, Waterloo.

Iftar fundraising dinner to benefit K-W soup kitchens is being held August 13 at 7 p.m. at the Waterloo Memorial Recreational Complex, 101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo.

New dean in environment; other notes

The new dean of the Faculty of Environment, André Roy (left), starts work August 1. He's appointed for a five-year term, succeeding Mark Seasons, who served as interim dean since the departure of Deep Saini in July 2010 to become the University of Toronto's vice-president. Roy was a professor and administrator at Université de Montréal and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Fluvial Dynamics. As an internationally recognized researcher with a special interest in how environmental changes affect the structure and flow of rivers, he will also be a professor in the geography and environmental management department.

Architecture students raise Troy on stage
“The city of Troy is an ancient place, and a modern one.” So begins the haunting description of a play created by a group of architecture students. “Heinrich Schliemann, the German archaeologist; Homer, the mythical blind poet; and Achilles, the Greek hero, are each passionately trying to find their way into it. Imagining Troy, they begin recreating the city and its people.

“As Schliemann investigates ruins and Homer sings his poetry, the legends and stories grow and come to life between them. Gradually, the ghosts of Greek armies and the shadows of Trojan walls become alive and solid. As Homer and Schliemann struggle to enter the re-imagined Troy, their lives and their quests are woven together. But what, and where, really, is the city?”

Each summer, second-year students from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture stage a play as the major term project for their Cultural History course. “Our class is responsible for all aspects of the production,” says Professor Tracey Winton. “We have developed an original script based on works of history, literature, and our imaginations. We have groups designing and fabricating sets, props, and costumes, writing the music, planning lighting and special effects, acting, directing, producing, and raising funds.”

This year’s presentation is Ilion, “our version of the legend of the siege of Troy.” Performances today and Saturday at the Lang Tannery in Kitchener are already sold out. Information is on the group’s Facebook page.

Research in the news: Stand up straight vs. pain …

Vanessa Bohns (right), a newly arrived assistant professor of management sciences at Waterloo, has been attracting media attention with work done at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She and a colleague showed that your posture has a lot to do with the amount of pain you can tolerate. Adopting a dominant posture can make you feel stronger and in control, which is associated with a higher pain threshold, while adopting a more submissive posture – curling up and nursing a pain – can make it feel worse. Bohns was interviewed on CBC’s Ontario Morning on July 21 – the podcast is online – and an article appeared in the Toronto Star. The research is described in a article in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

… and stay active to stay smart

Laura Middleton (left), an associate professor in kinesiology, was quoted in an article in the New York Times, July 27 on her research into the effects of exercise on the decline of cognitive abilities in old age. After studying a large group of elderly people over several years, Middleton and her co-researchers found that the most sedentary seemed to score worse on thinking and memory tests as time went on, while the most active showed little deterioration. She also found that activity didn’t have to be overly vigorous to be protective. The research was published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine.